U.S. Army Captain among 13 men accused of trying to meet with minors for sex

The Harris County Precinct 1 deputies arrested more than one dozen men who attempted to meet with what they thought were underage juveniles.

The men's ages ranged from 22 to 45 years old, and in one case, a U.S. Army captain is accused of trying to have sex with what he thought was a 13 or 14-year-old girl.

Officials say Charles Cody Waidelich drove from Dallas to meet with the minor.

The U.S. Army special operations command, LTC Loren Bymer, released the following statement:

USASOC (United States Army Special Operations Command) is aware of the arrest of a soldier assigned to a subordinate unit of this command. The allegations made against him represent unacceptable behavior and are uncharacteristic of ARSOF (Army Special Operations Forces) Soldiers. We take this matter seriously, and are cooperating with the investigation, led by officials from the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

In order to protect the integrity of the investigation and the rights of the individual, there is no additional information available for release at this time.

The three-day investigation was led by the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children's Task Force, the Harris County Precinct One Constable's office and the Houston Police Department.

The officials' goal was to arrest adults who were using the internet and social media to sexually exploit children by soliciting sex or sex related acts.

Officers said that the men arrested were using several social media apps and posing as minors.

Many of the men allegedly believed they were chatting with 13 to 15-year-old girls. One man thought he was chatting with a 15-year-old boy.

Some of the men arrested brought condoms and alcohol to meet with the minors, authorities said.